The battle for African places at the 2006 World Cup starts this weekend

There are nine matches across Africa, with action in four out of the five groups.

In Group One, Senegal, who reached the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals, have several key players missing as they take on Congo at home.

In the same group, friends Kalusha Bwalya and Stephen Keshi face each other as they lead out Zambia and Togo in Lusaka respectively.

Group Two's big game could be Uganda against the DR Congo given the two countries past political history.

The match has now been moved to Sunday after the Simbas failed to catch their flight from Kinshasa to Kampala, due to the deteriorating security situation in the DR Congo.

The other games on Saturday in the group see South Africa taking on the Cape Verde Islands in Bloemfontein and Burkina Faso hosting Ghana in Ouagadougou.

All of Group Three's opening matches are on Sunday.

In Group Four, one of the traditional giants of African football, Nigeria take on the fast improving Rwanda.

Also playing in the group are Gabon facing Zimbabwe in Libreville.

Group Five faces an uncertain future after Fifa imposed and indefinite ban on Kenya.

Guinea, who were already in Nairobi when the ban was imposed, have already returned home.

The other group games see African champions Tunisia hosting Botswana, while their north African rivals Morocco travel to Malawi.